Cowboys strength coach will be in spotlight when lockout ends

With NFL labor talks on the upswing, it’s safe to assume that players are intensifying their individual conditioning workouts.

Citing an unidentified source, ESPN.com reported Thursday morning that labor negotiations Wednesday in Boston were “very fruitful” and the expectation is that they will continue until a deal is ironed out.

“We are headed in the right direction,” the source said. “There is a desire on both sides to reach an agreement sooner rather than later.”

When the lockout finally ends, the first order of business for teams will be to explore free agency and to get their players in top shape. Individual workouts during the lockout just aren’t the same as the work done as a team with a strength and conditioning coach barking out orders.

Fortunately for the Cowboys, they have one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the business in Mike Woicik, who helped the Cowboys win Super Bowls in the 1990s and the Patriots do the same this past decade.

In all, the 54-year-old Woicik has six Super Bowl rings. The Cowboys hired him in February after Joe Juraszek stepped down for medical reasons.

Even if the Cowboys do get in some conditioning work after the lockout and before the start of training camp in late July, you can still count on much of the Cowboys’ early work at the Alamodome to be devoted to getting in playing shape.

Woicik, no doubt, already has a detailed plan in place. Of all the Cowboys new coaching hires, he will be the most important in the days immediately after the lockout ends.